Has anyone activated SOTA summits along the Camino De Santiago in northern Spain? I’m planning on walking the Camino Frances portion of the Camino next year and would like some advice about summits along The Way or those close enough to make it worthwhile to take my KX3 along for the trip.
73,
Scott N9AA
I’m contemplating the same trip next year, possibly mid April onwards. Do you have any specific dates yet?
Andrew VK1DA/VK2UH
Andrew, contact Rik VK3EQ who did it last year.
Nan & I had contemplated it for this year but we ended up in Patagonia instead. Still on the bucket list.
From what I recall Rik saying, there is little direct SOTA opportunities en-direct route.
Weight, other than a hand held, would be an issue for the full trek.
Tony VK3CAT
ok thanks Tony. My initial thoughts are the MTR3B and wire. maybe a short pole. still in planning stage. Will see if I can contact Rik. Some summits near Pamplona.
cheers
Hello,
as Tony suggested, weight is gonna be an issue in your rucksack, although MTR is affordable.
The main issue I see is the extra effort of climbing for SOTA that adds to the daily effort of walking 25 km average etapes in the way of Santiago. This trip is not easy even without any SOTA!
This is a raw map of the traditional route (just showing main cities and stops):
If you zoom on it you’ll see that the way tries to avoid summits as much as possible crossing flat areas; you should deviate a bit to do some mountain top where they are near.
I live in Pamplona so I can assess on some opportunities in my area (just starting the trip the very first days in Spain if you cross from France - Saint Jean Pied de Port).
Summits near Roncesvalles.
Summit near Espinal:
Summit near Pamplona
Summit near Estella:
Afterwards you move into La Rioja region. I can not assess much from this point onwards. Most part of the trip is quite flat untill you arrive in Leon region (EA1/LE) then Lugo (EA1/LU) where there is again a mountaneous area.
The easy way to accomplish SOTA for any of you would be to count on a local ham that could join you to do an activation sharing the car or even equipment (so that you can get rid of extra weight) and helping shortening the trip to the summit.
Count on me if I can. Please let me now on your dates as we approach.
You can contact via my mail (QRZ.com).
Stay tuned, 73 de Ignacio
Thanks, Ignacio. Your kind offer is very helpful. I will note your contact details and let you know of my plans closer to the date.
73 Andrew VK1DA/VK2UH
Is there a summit quite close to O Cebrero?
Hi Andrew,
I’m not sure of the exact dates, but we went in mid-July when we walked the Camino Finisterre in 2016, so it’s likely we’ll go from late June to late July, so we can catch festival season and St. James Day. It’s hot then, but I’m from the Midwestern U.S., so we’re used to heat and humidity and my wife, who is Galecian, tolerated the heat OK on our last walk. We’ll likely take a few rest days to compensate.
Thank you, Ignacio for the information and kind offer of assistance! We will likely walk from St. Jean to at least Finisterre, along with a side trip to A Coruna, which is my wife’s home town. So, we will walk the traditional route of the Camino Frances, but won’t mind a few deviations from the route to operate, if necessary. My operation will be bare bones, just the KX3, a couple sets of batteries, a Wonder Wand with counterpoise and a wire for the low bands. I may bring a small beam for 2m SSB/CW, as I understand that is popular in EU. I could also bring a handheld for DMR/D-Star/FM, maybe.
It is good to know that others are considering walking the Way. The short Camino we did in 2016 was wonderful, but I only brought a handheld, so I didn’t do any operating, just listened a bit. These are my first posts to the forum, so I apologize if they are substandard in some way. I appreciate the kind welcome and the information. I’ll post more when I know more.
73, Scott N9AA
I used sotamaps to view the established path or i should say camino, and noted the areas where summits are near it. The summits pointed out by Ignacio are the ones i also noted. It all depends on how far off the path you are willing to divert. A day trip with the aid of a local or a hired car would be fairly productive, i think.
Hello,
I was born and also live in Pamplona. Like Ignacio EA2BD, I’ll be pleased to help you get to some of the drive on summits we have near Pamplona as well as letting you operate my SOTA station.
My wife is also from the province of La Coruña, from the city of Ferrol, and we usually spend some weeks there in July and August. We are in Ferrol now.
My offer also applies to when you’ll be in Galicia. I know a good number of SOTA summits and I’d be very pleased to accompany and join you to some summits here. Alto de Anxelio EA1/CR-020 is a drive on summit near La Coruña city.
You can email me to mycall@hotmail(dot)com for atrangements either near Pamplona or La Coruña depending on the dates I’ll be in one place and the other.
73,
Guru
There are 2 other 6 pointers on the Way of Santiago right in the border between the provinces of Leon and Lugo. Both are drive on summits.
I usually stop by them on my return journey to Pamplona after my summer holidays in Galicia.
See my following activation report:
73,
Guru
That’s all very useful info, thanks Guru. When my plans are more concrete I will let you know.
73 Andrew VK1DA/VK2UH